New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India had shot down a live satellite in space on Wednesday with an anti-satellite missile, hailing the test as a major breakthrough in its space programme.

Modi made the announcement in a television address to the nation. He said India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China.

"India has made an unprecedented achievement today," Modi said, speaking in Hindi. "India registered its name as a space power."